The public transport system has been brought to a standstill as operators are on strike to protest against the government’s decision to liberalise the hearses market. Drivers of buses, white taxis and red minivans joined the hearse operators in the strike, probably fearing that the next turn will be theirs.
Like everyone else, public transport operators have a right to protect their interests. But the way they are going about manifesting their dissent with the decision taken by the government is not earning them any points. If anything, it is pushing public opinion against them. More than it already is.
The people are not happy with the way the public transport system operates. Over many years, there have been attempts to bring the system up to standard, but while tariffs have increased, the level of the service has not. The lack of reliability and poor quality does not encourage people to use public transport, and the general feeling is that if you can avoid public transport, avoid it.
We repeat, everyone has a right to strike. But if this goes beyond a dispute with the authorities – in this case the government – then such action is bound to create a negative effect. Rather than trying to get the people on their side, the way public transport operators are behaving is pushing them further away.
Blocking roads is not the way to go about making a point. Creating traffic jams and frustrating private drivers is not the way that one earns support. Charging up Castille steps – what did they have in mind? – is not the way to get oneself understood. Not providing emergency services and forcing the Infrastructure, Transport and Communications Ministry to call off the emergency services it planned for yesterday will not help either.
What the transport operators seem oblivious to is that, apart from having public opinion against them, even constituted bodies have taken a stand against them, leaving them fight what seems to be a rather lone battle.
The government has been strengthened by the position taken by the Malta Labour Party, which has expressed itself in favour of liberalisation in areas where the consumer stands to benefit. Rarely do we see the two main political parties sharing a common ground in matters of controversy. In the area, the government has the support of the opposition.
Not only. Each and every organisation that has issued a statement about the issue has spoken out – sometimes quite harshly – against the strike. The Federation of Industry, the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the Malta Employers Association and the Federation of Association of Travel and Tourism Agents all have spoken out against the transport operators.
At the height of the tourist season, such action has certainly tarnished Malta’s image in the eyes of the thousands of tourists who were already here or who arrived at the airport or Grand Harbour yesterday, only to find that there was no transport system available, also because the Unscheduled Bus Services took the decision not to work as from yesterday after some incidents were reported on Monday.
The government’s stand is known. It is not prepared to go back on its word, and has reacted to the strike by suspending subsidies to bus owners. It has adopted a policy of liberalisation in search of better deals for the consumer and will not retreat from it. It also called off a meeting which was scheduled for today with bus owners’ representatives, unless the strike action is withdrawn. With public opinion and constituted bodies giving their support, the government’s position is much stronger than that of the transport federation.
A solution must however be found. The earlier the two sides come to terms, the better it will be for all the stakeholders involved and for the public in general.